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New Coach Is Ex-Cougar

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

PLANT CITY - The plan was to pay her dues, then worry about getting paid.

For Justeen Patton, that all changed with a phone call from her mom.

"My mother Sandi Hamilton mentioned that she saw that the head volleyball coaching job at Durant High was open. I said 'Are you serious? What an awesome job,'" said Patton, now the owner of that job.

Last week, Durant officials confirmed that the one-time Cougar was indeed the new coach, taking over for newlywed Dawn Hough, who left the area to live with her husband in Fort Lauderdale.

Patton came here from the University of Kansas, where she arrived in July and was serving as a volunteer assistant coach.

"I loved my job, but 'volunteer' assistant obviously means I wasn't getting paid much," she said. "In exchange for being a volunteer, they were going to help me get a real assistant job somewhere."

Patton was planning to work on her master's degree at the school, but then decided to become a coach full time.

"My life has taken many turns here recently," Patton said.

Patton played at Durant for one year, as a freshman, before transferring back to Tampa Prep, where she attended middle school. With Patton as a key figure, Tampa Prep won the state championship each of her three years there.

But the one season at Durant left a good impression on Patton - and gave her a chance to compete alongside Hough, who was a senior in 1998. Hough remembers taking Patton under wing and driving her home each day after practice.
Patton said the support given to the volleyball program at Durant was the major factor in her deciding to leave Kansas, where she thought she would be for much longer.

"I was iffy about moving to Florida again. I really liked the Midwest," she said. "I would not have come back to Florida for any other school."

After Tampa Prep, Patton played two years at Barton County Community College, helping the Kansas junior college to its only national championship in 2003. Patton then moved on to the University of Iowa, where she started for two seasons.

Coaching experience came during stints with the Iowa Rockets club team and at various summer volleyball camps and clinics.

If any of the returning Cougar players are expecting a drop-off in the level of conditioning that Hough required, they are out of luck.

"I'm very excited she's the coach," Hough said. "The girls will love her, but we talked about the conditioning and we have the same ideas. They'll start workouts in the spring, and doing more in the summer."

Patton also has taken Hough's personal fitness teaching job at the school.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib .com

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